News
2023-01-09 | permalink
Centre’s response on GM mustard proves regulatory violations, claim activists
Environment ministry releases response to Coalition of GM-free India’s allegations over environmental approval to GM crop
The Coalition for a GM-free India, a pan-Indian citizen’s platform, has claimed the Union environment ministry’s response to allegations over violating statutory regulations to approve genetically modified (GM) mustard were evidence that due procedures were not followed.
The coalition, a group of farmers, activists, researchers and scientists, has locked horns with the Union government, demanding adequate information on the grounds for the approval of the controversial Dhara Mustard Hybrid (DMH-11), which received the nod October 18, 2022.
There were 15 instances where the Union government compromised on appraising and approving the GM mustard, the coalition claimed January 6, 2023.
Down To Earth: Centre’s response on GM mustard proves regulatory violations, claim activists2022-10-24 | permalink
New GMOs: European supermarkets for strict labeling
Many European distributors and supermarket chains, mainly German and Austrian, are mobilizing. They demand that all GMOs, transgenic or resulting from new techniques of genetic modification, be correctly labelled.
2022-10-20 | permalink
Approval of GM mustard may threaten food security, increase pesticide tolerance
Activists write to environment ministry against allowing commercial use of genetically modified crops
The Indian variety of GM Mustard was conceived in 2022 by Deepak Pental, the then-vice chancellor of Delhi University.
Genetically modified crops may soon get the central government nod, a move that could pose a threat to crop diversity, food security and increase tolerance for use of pesticides. The move might also severely affect the agrarian sector, as the seed market will be in the hands of private companies instead of farmers, according to experts.
2022-10-20 | permalink
Two biotech giants are endangering our nutrition with patents and new genetic engineering
Brussels/Vienna, October 20, 2022 –The two biotech companies Corteva and Bayer have accumulated hundreds of patent applications on plants in recent years. Corteva has filed 1,430 patents - more than any other company - on crops using genetic engineering methods. A joint international research by GLOBAL 2000, Friends of the Earth Europe, Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), ARCHE NOAH, IG Saatgut - interest group for GMO-free seed work and Vienna Chamber of Labor examines this flood of patents against the background of the currently discussed deregulation of EU genetic engineering law with imminent Exceptions for New Genetic Engineering (NGT). "The growing number of patent applications to increase the profits of these NGT methods reveals the double play of the corporations," say the authors of the report published today.
2022-10-18 | permalink
The advantages of current EU GMO legislation
In the EU, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are strictly regulated in order to protect human and animal health and the environment. We examine why the current EU legislation works well for both the industry and the consumer.
In the EU, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are strictly regulated, by a legal framework, which - according to the EU Commission’s website - aims to protect human and animal health and the environment, by having a safety assessment “of the highest possible standards” at EU level before any product is placed on the market.
